TB in Leicester: out of control, or just one of those things?

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7295.1133

BMJ 2001;322:1133-1134 ( 12 May )

Editorials

TB in Leicester: out of control, or just one of those things?

Recent increases in tuberculosis in the UK reflect a global problem

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Last year in England and Wales 235 schoolchildren aged 5-14 were notified with tuberculosis. Most will not have been infectious $---$ forexample, those with tuberculous lymphadenitis $---$ but some of the148 children with pulmonary tuberculosis will have been smearpositive and potential sources of infection. For each of thesechildren local tuberculosis services will have searched for linkedcases by screening household members and other close contacts,including those at school.¹

Evidence of transmission of infection from a child index case in a school to other children is not often found¹ $---$ but outbreaksin schools do occur. Although adults, usually staff, are oftenthe source of infection, schoolchildren have also been reported.^2-6The essential element in these outbreaks is an infectious patientwhose illness may have been undiagnosed for a long period. Localenvironmental circumstances and the opportunity to expose manypeople also contribute to the scale of anoutbreak.

What therefore should . . . [Full text of this article]

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